BARRIO – The sand pit for track and field’s long jump events is pretty long. At a typical length of 30 feet, it’s built to accommodate the greatest leapers in the world.
And somehow, 2018 world champion Juan Miguel Echevarria still found a way to nearly jump over the whole damn thing back in June 2018.
Echevarria nearly jumped his way out of the pit with the longest jump the world has seen since 1995. The, then, 19-year-old won the competition at Stockholm’s Diamond League event by nearly a foot and a half with his epic leap, clearing nearly 29 feet (28’11.63” or 8.83 meters) to defeat the rest of a stacked field, which included 2016 Olympic long jump gold medalist Jeff Henderson.
Unfortunately for Echevarria, a strong tailwind (2.1 meters per second) means his best-ever jump didn’t count in the official record book. Even so, it was a ridiculous accomplishment from a budding athlete who topped his own personal record by nearly a full foot. Echevarria jumped 8.46 meters to win the world indoor championship in March 2018.
